LDEO Research Blogs

The ice sheet that drains into West Antarctica's Amundsen Sea is about the size of Texas and two miles thick. Home to two of Antarctica's five biggest glaciers-Pine Island and Thwaites-this region holds enough ice to raise global sea level 1.2 meters. Understanding how the ice changed from the last ice age to today will help us predict future sea level rise. Join Lamont-Doherty marine geologist Frank Nitsche on his voyage aboard the Swedish ice-breaking ship, the Oden.

Scientists from a number of research institutions are participating in an expedition aboard the R/V L’Atalante to study how microorganisms in the South Pacific Ocean influence the carbon cycle. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory graduate student Kyle Frischkorn is among them; his goal is to assess how the microorganism Trichodesmium and other microbes interact, and the resulting physiological and biogeochemical impacts these processes have on marine ecosystems.

Over the past six decades, researchers have been perfecting the art and science of measuring the chemistry of ocean sediments to learn how ocean temperatures, ocean circulation, and marine biological productivity have evolved. The purpose of this research is ultimately to understand more about today’s climate system and to test numerical models of the future Earth system. In this blog, climate scientist Kelsey Dyez of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory will explore research and recent findings, and also share stories of how scientists go about their jobs and come to such understandings.

The goal of the Eastern North American Margin Community Seismic Experiment is to understand the breakup of ancient continents that led to the formation of the eastern edge of North America and the Atlantic Ocean and the later evolution of this continental margin by landslides and other active processes. A record of these geological events is stored in the rocks offshore North Carolina. We will collect active and passive, onshore and offshore seismic data to image geological structures at a range of scales to learn about the evolution of continental margins and their geohazards.

Greenland’s ice sheets are shrinking faster than ever, responsible for about a quarter of sea-level rise globally. Alison Glacier on Greenland’s northwestern coast is one place where ice flow to the sea has speeded up. From a tiny hunting and fishing village in the Upernavik Islands, scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory will take ocean measurements to understand why Alison is surging to the sea faster than nearby glaciers. They will also work with villagers to continue data collection when they’re gone.